The Autumn Defense – Here and Nowhere (Yep Roc) (13th Floor Album Review)
Wilco off-shoot The Autumn Defense is about to release their long-awaited new album, Here and Nowhere. The 13th Floor’s Rob Jones has had an advance listen…
Four and a half minutes into The One, the luxurious opening track of The Autumn Defense’s first album in over ten years, a flute solo starts to tangle itself around the guitar line riding the outro. As the 6 minute song begins to fade out laughter can be heard and an appreciative, “Nice”. Everything about John Stirratt and Pat Sansone’s new album. Here and Nowhere, can be distilled into those 2 moments.
Much could be made of the pastiche nature of this music, it harkens back to the craftsmanship found on studio albums of the 1970s, Seals and Crofts work immediately comes to mind, say with less vocal assurance. But by their own admission, this is not a forced exercise in aping a genre. By John’s account, the songs end up the way they do because that’s how the songs were meant to be.
However, that laughter followed by “Nice”, suggests to me that there is a knowing wink going on under all this. To be sure there is a melancholy that underpins a lot of these songs, but as we all know there is often an enjoyment to be found within the aesthetic emotion of sadness. Here, sadness is dressed in beautifully warm, analogue sound. In short, this is a very easy album on the ears.
Those who are coming here for a taste of John’s previous work with Wilco may be a little disappointed. The closest touch stone might be aspects of that band’s veer towards dad rock on Sky Blue Sky – the album which coincidently lost me as a diehard fan back in 2007. Better reference points would be Pat’s work with Joseph Arthur and even more so Josh Rouse, whose work this closely resembles at times. Heart’s Arrive, in particular, sounds like it could have come off Josh Rouse’s 1972 album.
It may sound like I am working my way down to a hatchet job on these guys, but that would be wrong. Whilst the folk rock vibe of 1970’s California might not be everybody’s cup of tea in this day and age, to dismiss this album as just a pointless throwback would be ignoring the serious songwriting chops on display here.
I’ll Take You Out of your Mind is a gem of a song, with a power pop heart that is aching to be blasted out of a valve radio to capture its warmth, In the Beginning unfolds a bright eyed string drenched chorus from a staccato piano and congo beat. These songs would be an ideal soundtrack for a road trip to a beach up north, windows down with a warm summer breeze.
And lets not forget that first track, The One. An audacious scene setter to an album of modest charms and subtle craftsmanship. This is something to slip on when you feel a yearning to return to those days when the AM radio carried the feel of summer as it begins to cool towards the autumn, when cardigans supplement T shirts and fires on the beach help ward off the chill of the impending night.
Nice.
Rob Jones
Here and Nowhere out October 10 on Yep Roc Records
Click here to watch the 13th Floor MusicTalk Interview with Pat Sansone
